Rousseff Says Violence Embarrassing Brazil Needs to Be Curbed

By Joshua Goodman -
Jun 21, 2013

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
condemned the use of violence by a minority of demonstrators who
she said are embarrassing the nation and threaten to undermine
gains made since the return of democracy.

“If we let violence take us off our path, we will not only
be wasting a big historic opportunity, but also running the risk
of losing a lot” we’ve already accomplished, Rousseff said in a
nationally televised address. “We can’t live with this violence
that embarrasses Brazil.”

Rousseff has struggled to get ahead of a movement that has
swept Latin America’s biggest economy over the past two weeks.
Today’s remarks were her first since June 18, when the former
Marxist guerrilla vowed to listen to “the voices of the
street,” a promise she repeated tonight.

As she spoke, hundreds of protesters blocked the highway to
Sao Paulo’s international airport, forcing police to beef up
security. In Rio de Janeiro, protesters marched peacefully in
the beach-side neighborhood of Leblon to the home of Governor
Sergio Cabral. Elsewhere in the city smaller groups battled
police and sacked storefronts.

In her address, delivered from the presidential palace,
Rousseff said that her government would maintain order and urged
Brazilians to reciprocate the warm hospitality the country’s
soccer squad has for decades received abroad and organize a
peaceful and orderly World Cup next year.

Oil Royalties

Rousseff didn’t outline new policy action in the nine-minute speech but instead repeated a pledge to earmark for
education 100 percent of the royalties Brazil stands to earn
from offshore oil finds.

She said she’d meet with protesters to listen to their
demands and tap their energy to pursue a pact with local
authorities to deliver improvements in public transport. She
also endorsed a plan to bring thousands of doctors from abroad
to improve the quality of health care at state clinics.

After watching last night from the presidential palace
crowds gather in what was the biggest mass protest yet, Rousseff
today met with members of her cabinet to discuss emergency
measures to quell the violence and seek solutions to demands for
better education, health care and other public services.

“Brazil struggled a lot to become a democratic country and
it’s struggling a lot to become a more just country,” she said
tonight.